Wedding Planning Checklist: The Whole Thing on One Page

A wedding planning checklist comes down to a handful of big decisions made in the right order, followed by a long stretch of confirmations. Below is the whole list on one page, sorted by when each job is due, so you can print it, tape it to the fridge and cross things off.

A word on where we sit. We are a day of coordination team, not a full planning service, so we do not choose your venue or book your vendors for you. What we do see is what happens on the wedding day when one of these items was missed, and this list is built backward from that.

What goes first on a wedding planning checklist?

The first few weeks after you get engaged are about decisions. The shopping can wait, and everything else depends on these.

• Agree on a total budget and who is contributing to it

• Write a rough guest list, because the number decides which venues are even possible

• Choose a season or a range of dates

• Tour venues and ask what each one includes, then book one. The date follows from the venue

• Book the photographer, and the caterer if your venue does not supply one. Popular dates can fill up well ahead, so ask early

• Choose your officiant

• Start one shared folder or spreadsheet for contracts, receipts and contact details

What comes next, once you have a date and a venue?

Roughly nine months to four months out, you are filling in the supporting cast.

• Book music, the florist, the baker, and hair and makeup

• Ask your wedding party and tell them the date and the basics

• Shop for attire and book fittings, because alterations take longer than people expect

• Send save the dates if many guests are traveling

• Reserve a hotel block for out of town guests

• Order any rentals your venue does not supply, such as tables, chairs and linens

• Plan the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner

• Talk to a day of coordinator. Our work begins two to four weeks before the wedding, but a date and a venue are enough to start the conversation

What happens in the last two months?

This is where the wedding planning checklist gets longer and the jobs get smaller. Most of it is confirming that what you decided earlier is still true.

• Mail the invitations, usually six to eight weeks before the wedding, with a clear reply by date

• Plan your marriage license. In Georgia there is no waiting period and it is usually issued the same day. South Carolina has a 24 hour wait after you apply, and a license can only be used in the state that issued it. Our sister site has guides for Richmond County and for Aiken and North Augusta

• Write your vows and settle readings and music with your officiant

• Do the final dress or suit fitting

• Collect replies, chase the missing ones, and give the caterer your final headcount by the date it asks for

• Build the seating chart and the signs that go with it

• Write down the wedding day timeline and send it to every vendor

• Put each final payment in a labeled envelope, along with any tips, with the name of the person who will hand it over

• Decide who takes home the gifts, the cards and the leftover decor

• Pack the rings, the license and a change of clothes in one bag

After the ceremony your officiant completes and signs the license and hands it to you. Returning it to the probate court is your job, and in Georgia you have 30 days.

Where does day of coordination fit?

It covers the final stretch of the wedding planning checklist. Starting two to four weeks before the wedding, we build the wedding day timeline, confirm and follow up with your vendors, make sure everyone knows where to be and when, and run the rehearsal lineup and the ceremony cues. On the day we are the point of contact for your vendors and we handle the problems that come up. We also carry and move things.

Our team is Nick and Jasmine, a male and a female coordinator working together. If you are comparing options, our posts on wedding planner vs day of coordinator and on the wedding day timeline are good next reads.

Questions couples ask while planning

How early should I start?

As soon as you are engaged, but nothing on the list is urgent in the first week. If your engagement is short, work in this order: budget, guest count, venue, officiant, photographer, caterer. Everything else can follow.

Do I need every item on the list?

No. A wedding planning checklist is a menu. Skip the favors, the bouquet toss or the welcome bags if they do not matter to you. The items that are hard to skip are the venue, the officiant, the license, the food and a plan for the day.

What do couples forget most often?

From what we see on wedding days: the license, final payments, who takes the gifts home, a phone number for each vendor that someone will answer, and who is taking down the decor at the end of the night.

Can a day of coordinator plan the whole wedding?

That is a different service. Full planning covers choosing and booking over many months, and ours is the final stretch and the wedding day itself. Ask us what your wedding needs and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.

Hand off the final stretch

Keep this wedding planning checklist handy for the months ahead, and when you reach the last month, let us take the vendor and timeline side off your list. Day of coordination with us starts at $800 and goes up from there depending on what your wedding needs and how many staff we bring. We work across Augusta, Evans, Grovetown, Martinez and the rest of the CSRA. See the day of coordination page for what is covered, then reach out through the contact page.